Whitman female counterpartIf you would choose a female counterpart to Whitman, who...

If you would choose a female counterpart to Whitman, who would she be? Does America have a female poet who speaks of connection and individualism in the sensual, mystic way that Whitman does? Is his voice so decidedly male (never mind his sexual identity) that our culture does not have a woman who sings as he does?

If you would choose a female counterpart to Whitman, who would
she be? Does America have a female poet who speaks of connection
and individualism in the sensual, mystic way that Whitman
does? Is his voice so decidedly male (never mind his
sexual identity) that our culture does not have a woman who sings
as he does?

Although she is not nearly as well known (nor exactly the same
era), one of the early-mid 20th century poets that comes to mind is
Elizabeth Bishop. Her poems reflect grandeur of
the States and often reflect intense personal
insight. Like Whitman, Bishop too was bisexual, so there is
that connection.

Here are a couple of excerpts, and a link to, poets.org,
producers of the fantastic series, "Voices and Visions." The
first excerpt reflects her sense of being American, the second her
personal reflectiveness:

Good choice! She doesn't really have the epic quality, but she has the nature connection--and how she connects. I'm thinking of her poem "The Fish," where she catches this fish and begins to look at it closer and closer, seeing it as an "other," finally realizing (I think) that she will have to let it go because she sees it as a living creature. I'm not sure I could force students (force being the operative word here) into a solid comparison and contrast with Whitman and Bishop, and that is one option I would like in thinking this through.

Good choice! She doesn't really have the epic quality, but
she has the nature connection--and how she connects. I'm
thinking of her poem "The Fish," where she catches this fish and
begins to look at it closer and closer, seeing it as an "other,"
finally realizing (I think) that she will have to let it go because
she sees it as a living creature. I'm not sure I could force
students (force being the operative word here) into a solid
comparison and contrast with Whitman and Bishop, and that is one
option I would like in thinking this through.

I don't know that there could be a direct comparison to Whitman,
male or female. A voice such as his has been frequently
imitated, but never duplicated. But a female voice
in Whitman's time...I think there is a two-fold problem to this
query. First, there is the continuing dilemma of
recovery. Think of Dickinson burying her poems in her "hope"
chest, of the many women, such as the Brontes and Eliot who had to
adopt male pen-names to be published at all.

Then there is the sticky problem of freedom. Whitman,
being male, could travel freely and experience life as few, if any,
women could openly do. Now, of course, women are able to roam
and experience life in its totality as do men. If we extend
your question into the later 20th century and beyond, might there
be a female poet as powerful in scope as is Whitman?